The university of utopia

Abstract

The “University of Utopia" was Garrod's first public lecture in Malta that was delivered on 3rd November 1917, in the same Aula Magna, where on the 15th December 1916, the University of Malta had honoured him with the degree of Doctor of Medicine. The contents of his talk, in its published pamphlet can be summarized as follows: An introduction regarding the state of University education in Britain, the origin of the University and of the curriculum, the four functions of a University, the curriculum in relation to classical studies versus natural science, whereby in the conclusion he speaks about the need for educational methods, problems of time and money, and the University of Utopia. About two-thirds of the pamphlet is devoted to an analysis of the functions of a University and to the claims of classical studies and natural science as a basis for a University education. According to him “The University of Utopia is a dream. It has never existed and never will exist. It is but an ideal at which it behoves us to aim".